Trichotillomania
by mollie21
Summary: In which Zach develops Trichotillomania, a compulsive disorder that causes one to pull out their own hair. Sibling fluff. Jurassic World.


The first thing that Gray observed was the stray hairs across his brothers' floor. Not too many, but more then what should come out in a hair brush. Next was the fact that he was always occupied, even when they were eating dinner. Zach rarely spoke to his family anymore, and when he did, it would be a small sentence. Quick, as if to avoid questions. He always seemed to be absorbed on something else, far away from reality.

Even though months had passed since the incident at Jurassic World, Zach hadn't made any progress in getting better. Gray still woke with the occasional nightmare, but it was nothing that couldn't be handled. Claire and Owen were still together, maybe because of the bond they had formed, or maybe they just felt protected next to one and other. Even they had improved. But Zach. Zach was still the same as the day he returned home. Not only angry, but extremely nervous and skittish anywhere he went, with an occasional breakdown at school, and was therefore sent home.

Over the next few days Gray watched his older brother closely. At dinner times, he seemed to be focused on something else. Watching a film, he would sit on his hands and stare at the screen, but no actually watching what was happening, completely disregarding the film. As soon as he was told he could go upstairs, he would leave very abruptly, and almost ran up the stairs. Gray watched all of this happen, but never said a word.

The next day, Gray decided he should speak to his brother. He just had to play it cool; otherwise he was sure his brother would kick off. The best chance he would have would be after dinner.

"Dinner, kids!" Yelled his mother from downstairs. The two boys came charging down the stairs. If there was one thing that Gray could point out that had stayed the same about Zach, it was the fact that he loved his food, like many teenage boys. As they walked into the dining room, Gray noticed that Zack was wearing an old hat of his, that he had purchased a few years ago, as part of his 'emo' phase. It was black and simple, and covered the most part of his hair.

"What's with the hat, Zach?" asked their mom, whilst eating her dinner. Zach looked up nervously, and stumbled through his sentence, obviously not sure what to tell her.

He shrugged in response, and carried on picking at his food, instead of pressing for an answer, their parents just shared a look before trying to carry on the conversation.

"Oh, well, it suits you!" his father added. Gray looked back at his brother, who was sporting a guilty face. He had eaten around half of his dinner, and was now sat twiddling his thumbs. It was as if he couldn't keep his hands still.

After a few minutes of silence, Zach suddenly announced that he was going to bed early.

"Okay, sweetie! Sleep well!" their mother said cheerily. She didn't really want to say no, because she didn't want to start another fight. After the incident, she felt like she had been treading eggshells around the boys, terrified that she would upset one of them. Gray watched his brother run up the stairs, and decided now was as better time as any.

"You know, I'm pretty tired too, mind if I go?" he asked.

"No, of course not! Goodnight!" Gray gave them a quick smile before walking away from his half eaten dinner. He walked up the stairs and headed straight for his brothers room. Without knocking, Gray opened his brothers door and walked straight in.

"Zach, what's going on?!" he demanded before he even had a chance to get fully inside the room. Gray stood there for a moment in silence, waiting for an answer. He studied his brothers face and it looked… almost ashamed. Gray's expression changed almost immediately as he say his brothers hat on the floor. He looked back up at his brother and noticed that something wasn't quite right. Not only was Zach's face covered in tears, streaming down his cheeks, but there was something else wrong. Something very wrong.

Gray covered his gaping mouth, as he stared at his shocked brother.

Zach's brown hair hung around his head, sporting a huge bald patch at the front of his head, and much of his other hair shorter then the back. From what Gray could see, it was extremely uneven and if Zach's face said anything about it, it was not a natural reason.

Zach was sat on his bed, surrounded by single strands of his hair, carelessly dropped around him. "Wh- What?!" Stammered Gray.

"Just get out!" Zach said fiercely, his voice thick with emotion.

"Zach, what's going on!?" pleaded the younger brother.

"Nothing, okay, I'm fine! Now go away!" cried Zach, more tears streaming down his face now. Gray closed the door gently and slowly edged his was towards his brother. Zach's eyes were closed and his hands covering his face as he tried to pull himself together. Gray sat down on the bed next to him. They sat there in silence for a few seconds, and Zach opened his eyes to see the face of his concerned, little brother.

"What's going on?" asked Gray, more sternly this time. Zach looked around his room in hope that he would think of something to tell his brother, but no such look. Gray's eyes were fixed on Zack, waiting for an answer, and Zach saw no point in lying. Gray was smart, he could see right through him.

Before answering, Zach ran his hands through his hair, feeling a sense of relief as he discreetly pulled a few out of his scalp.

"Zach, tell me" Gray said, very quietly this time. Zach took a deep breath.

"Don't you see?!" he says, picking up a few hairs from the many scattered over the bed. "Gray, I just… I just can't stop it" he says, his voice breaking slightly, and tears streaming down his face once again. "It's just… it makes me feel better! I don't even remember when I started, but now… now I just do it! Even when I'm not scared or upset, it just happens! It's like a magnet from my hand to my head. And it just keeps getting worse and worse, but I can't stop! I've tried everything you can think of, but I just can't stop pulling my hair out! And there's just hair everywhere, I can't escape it! It doesn't even hurt… it's just…"

Gray stared at his brother in utter shock. At first his face was disgusted, but then his face became softer, more understanding.

"Just what?" asked Gray curiously.

"I want to stop. But I can't. I don't do this to hurt myself or anything… because I doesn't hurt! No one understands!" he said, raising his voice towards the end, wiping away his tears. Gray sat staring at his brother in awe. After a few seconds, Gray pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" Zach asked, still shaking visibly, and his hands in his hair. He arched is neck to try and see what Gray was doing but he turned the phone away from him. "Wait" answered Zach, not looking up from his phone. Gray opened Google, and typed in the search box:

' _Pulling out hair'._

After a few seconds of searching, Gray finally came to his conclusion. He looked up at his brother before telling him his findings.

"Zach, I think you have something called trick… trichotillomania…?" Zach's eyebrows knit together.

"What?" he asked.

"It's a compulsive disorder" replied Gray. "Loads of people have it. It's when you pull out your hair for relief of something" he added.

"So I'm not on my own?" asked Zach in disbelief.

"No. you have me. We're gonna get through this. _Together_ "

"Thanks, Gray" replied Zach, smiling at his little brother.


End file.
